Featured Coral Cameo, Bacchus or Bacchante? Signed???

Hello again,
Moving on to the next Cameo, to spice things up a bit, this is a Coral cameo set in 9 carat gold.
It may be Bacchus or a Bacchante, and also may be signed A A F.
@Bronwen knows that I have been looking for a long time for a coral cameo, and finally came my way.
During my student years I always was called Bacchus, and for some reason I attract lots of Bacchus cameos
My mum name is Athena, go figure why Greek mythology was always in my family
@Figtree3
@Ownedbybear
@Any Jewelry
@KSW

 

Wonderful! Before Bronwen chimes in, I can say it is carved Conch shell

 

oh no

 

I had one conch shell , but this is not at all like that. This has some stripes like it has been combed, I can’t explain it. And it’s more fragile. I need to take photos in the natural light.
Well, I paid coral price for it, hmm.
Learning

 

following..

 

Sellers photos, maybe they are better than mine.

 

My corn conch shell one, feels lighter as well.

 

Why did the seller layer green stripes over the front of it to sell it?

They MAY be natural on the back? No idea!

 

Hoping you're right, waiting for @Bronwen analysis!

 

She is a bacchante, and, as kyratango has told you, cut in conch shell. Please study & learn to recognize the difference from this (maybe you should show it to the person who sold it to you too):

https://cameotimes.com/index.php/reference/materials-guide?start=1

There definitely appears to be an A; not so sure about the scratches below it. You would think someone capable of cutting the cameo could incise his mark with more control. Conch shell cameos are only very rarely signed. As far as I know, I only have 1 in my collection. Dealers sometimes put inventory or price code marks on the back. I don't have a cutter to put with that A; it is likely to remain a mystery.

The green lines in the seller's terrible photo of the front look like a problem with the resolution of the image. They are just an artifact of the photo processing & have nothing to do with the cameo.

 

A coral Bacchus:

 

Can I just ask, this cameo, has a different carving than what I have seen before. It’s like it has been brushed with a comb, after being carved. I can’t explain it, never seen this. Tomorrow morning I will try to capture this in a photo.
Is this a different style of carving?
Thank you

 

Breathtaking!!!

 

Do you mean fine light brown lines running parallel in the white part? If, so, they are natural to the shell. The article I referred you to mentions them. If you mean something else, you will have to show me.

 

I can see why you thought it was coral from the sellers second photo, I’m sorry you have been disappointed :-(
I see lots of cameos described as coral when they aren’t, I suspect unscrupulous sellers think buyers won’t know the difference.
If it was sold to you as coral, can you arrange a return? It would appear to have been missold to you. If it was eBay or an auction house then you should be able to return under distance selling laws. If it’s a private seller I’d still give it a go!

 

Thanks, Bronwen

 

It's beautiful, even as a conch shell.

 

I quite like conch shell cameos myself. It can provide a much thicker piece of material to work with than can helmet shell, allowing it to be almost little relief sculptures.

 

I don't have any issues with conch shell as a beautiful material for cameos either, and it is a very nice cameo.
But I agree that, in spite of the typical conch shell colouring, the stripes on the seller's pics are misleading. And if it was sold to you as coral, you could ask for a refund, like @KSW said.

@Bronwen 's excellent site has good information on the materials used for cameos. It is worthwhile to delve into it and study the materials before you buy your next cameo.

 

I imagine some alcohol consumption was involved?

Our theology student bar was called Lazarus. Not only because he was a person from the New Testament, but in Dutch Lazarus also means extremely drunk.
I ran the bar for a few years, together with a friend. I was never 'Lazarus' though, I had to drive home after a shift.